Back to the Past
by GlitteringNights
Summary: When Mar'i Grayson joins her parents, Nightwing and Starfire, on a mission against a villain who can open portals and send anyone to anywhere and anytime at will, Mar'i gets caught in a difficult situation, specifically about 20 years into the past, and meets her parents younger selves.


**This story is influenced by a drawing from wonderfulworldofmoi on tumblr! go check out their art, it's super cute.**  
 **Here's the link:**  
 **post/100681703374/as-a-robinxstarfire-shipper-since-childhood-im**

 **I do not own the Teen Titans.**

"Mom! _Pleeeease_ can I join you and Dad?" The girl begged her mother.

Starfire sighed, running her fingers through her daughters dark hair. "I am afraid not."

Mar'i huffed. "Why not? I'm almost eleven! I can handle it. Please?"

The alien princess shook her head. "Not today, maybe when you are older, Starshine."

"I was all ready fighting crime when I was her age," Dick said, suiting up. "Plus, it's only patrol."

His wife shot him an irritated glance. "You are not helping, Richard."

He gave her a small smile and shrugged unapologetically.

Kory looked down at her eager daughter, who was pouting and giving her the 'puppy dog eyes'. Finally, Starfire gave in.

"I have a deal for you, Mar'i," The half alien looked at her with wide eyes. "If you are able to find a uniform for patrol before we are to leave, you may join us."

Mar'is eyes lit up as she raced off.

Dick started laughing. Kory stood up and crossed her arms. "What?"

He was wiping fake, or what Kory assumed were faux tears from his eyes. She glared at him.

"She's been working on a suit for _months."_

"Do not tell me you have been helping her with it."

Dick smiled sheepishly and gave an innocent whistle while looking away.

Starfire sighed, rubbing her temples, a gesture she had picked up from her many years on Earth.

No less than ten minutes later, Mar'i came floating out of her room, dressed in a uniform that resembled her mother's old one from her teen years, except Mar'is was a one piece with a skirt. She wore old boots they had got her for her birthday last year.

"Very well," Starfire said, "I did promise you."

"Thank you!" The girl exclaimed enthusiastically, flying up to give her mother a hug.

—

The family went on their normal patrol route. There wasn't much disturbance, they came across a few small muggings but nothing much else.

After Nightwing made his way back to where his wife and daughter were to report what he had come across, but before he could speak, an alarm at a nearby bank.

"Mar'i," Nightwing said, "Here's your first mission."

He held out his hand for his daughter to carry him to the bank. She held his hands in her own as she took flight, momentarily struggling with his weight before shifting in a way that she could easily carry his weight. Starfire flew ahead to check if it was safe.

A man was running out of the front entrance of the bank, bags of money in his hand. As police chased after him, portals opened behind the criminal. Some of the cops fell short before running into it, but a few mistakenly were tossed into the portals.

Nightwings eyes narrowed under his masked as he looked at Starfire. "Mar'i, you need to stay here. We don't know where he's sending the people down here."

Mar'i frowned. "I can help," she protested.

"Your father is right, Mar'i. Do not get close to him." Starfire told her.

Mar'i huffed in defeat, and her parents launched off in pursuit of the villain.

Mar'i watched her parents pursuit the madman. Dodging the portals he created left and right.

She looked to her father, he had engaged the super villain and was hurling a punch at him. The villain tumbled backwards for a second, attempting to regain his balance before Nightwing struck him again. While he was on the ground, he discreetly opened a portal behind Nightwing.

Nightwing held out his weapons toward the man. The villain looked to be revving himself up for another attack.

Mar'i gasped and flew as fast as she could toward Nightwing, yelling, "Dad! Watch out!"

He looked startled as his daughter came speeding toward him, and even more so when he was harshly pushed to the side as the villain he was facing reared up and kicked Mar'i into his portal at the very last second.

Nightwings eyes went wide as he shouted his daughters name, but there was no Mar'i, and there was no portal.

Both Nightwing and Starfire hurled themselves at the villain, Starfire peppering him in a fury of starbolts before Nightwing pinned him to the ground.

Starfire flew towards a part of the banks structure that had been destroyed and yanked a ruined structure beam. She made her way back to the villain, and using her powers, melted the mental around his hands.

"Where'd you send her?" Nightwing shouted at the man who was still pinned under him.

The villain gave him a lazy, uninterested smile. "Like I'll tell you," he snorted.

—

"Aaaah!"

An _oof_ was heard as Mar'i was slammed onto the hard ground. She groaned, rubbing her head as she sat up.

The alien hybrid looked around her, taking in her surroundings. She didn't recognize the area.

She stood up, and decided to take to the sky.

Once Mar'i was high above the city, she took in the view and soon realized that the city was oddly familiar. The boarders of the town resembled Jump... but everything was different.

After doing a complete sweep of the city's boarders, she noticed an island.

An island with Titans Tower.

Her parents and all their friends still met up there on occasion if they needed to discuss something, but none of them actually lived there anymore. Her uncle Victor hung around there quite often, though. Mar'i had visited the Tower multiple times, and was quite familiar with it and the city, spending her time in both Jump City and Blüdhaven quite often.

But the tower, it looked... different. Mar'i decided to investigate, confused. She assumed she was sent to another universe—an alternate reality.

Mar'i made her way to the towers large doors. She didn't have a pass code to enter the tower, so she settled on awkwardly pressing the buzzer to notify the team that someone was at the entrance.

Mar'i noticed a camera focus on her before she heard the sound of someone's voice through a speaker. "How can we help you?"

"I need to speak with the Titans," she replied urgently.

After a few moments, the door slid open to reveal the entrance hall. As she stepped in she saw her parents team, and her mouth was agape in very apparent shock.

Robin—her father—walked up to her. "We're the Teen Titans, you said you needed to talk to us?"

"Yes, I'm..." Mar'i paused for a moment, "Nighstar. Yeah, Nightstar." She shook her younger fathers hand. He observed the girl who seemed to be a bit younger than them. She realized she wasn't in another reality, but instead the past.

"This is gonna sound weird, but I need your help."

The Titans looked at each other before Robin spoke up again. "Let's go to the common room."

The six of them took the elevator up to the main room in awkward silence.

Once they arrived on the main floor, they ushered Mar'i to take a seat on one of the couches.

The Titans crowded around her, looking for answers. Before Mar'i could start talking, Starfire asked, "You are Tamaranean?" Evidentially taking in her fashion and orange tinged skin and eyes that resembled Starfires own.

Mar'i shifted slightly in her seat, "Yeah."

"Oh, it is wonderful to meet another Tamaranean who lives on Earth!" Her mother clasped her hands together. "But you do not have an accent, please, how long have you been on Earth for?"

"My whole life, actually," Nightstar answered. She debated on how much information she should reveal about her self, but figured if they were to help her, she'd need to be truthful. "I'm actually only half Tamaranean."

"Oh?" Starfire said, surprised.

"Alright," Robin started to talked. "Nightstar, was it? What do you need help with?"

"Well..." Mar'i started, "My... parents, and I..." She wasn't sure how to continue, hesitant with her words, and the others picked up on that.

"You're lying," her aunt Raven said pointedly.

"Not lying... just... not telling the full truth?" Mar'i offered sheepishly.

Cyborg frowned. "If you want our help, and our trust, you need to tell us the truth."

Mar'i frowned. "Okay... but I'm warning you now, this is all gonna sound really weird."

"Try us," Beast Boy said, leaning towards her.

"Okay, so, first off, my names... Mar'i Grayson, and I was on patrol with my parents when—"

"Wait, wait, wait," Beast Boy interrupted, putting his hands up in the air. "Your names Mar'i _Grayson. And_ you're Tamaranean?"

Mar'i nodded uncomfortably. She glanced over at her parents, who looked dumbfounded and shocked, no doubt putting it together in their heads.

"His name last name is Grayson! And she's from Tamaran!" Beast Boy shouted, pointing at the two heroes.

"Wow! And I thought Robin was the detective." Cyborg muttered sarcastically.

With all the information, Robins head went spinning and he couldn't focus, he felt dizzy and swayed a bit.

Starfire, on the other hand, cheeks reddened.

Once Robin gained a bit of his sense of reality back, he cleared his throat and said meekly, "I think you'll need to elaborate a bit more."

Mar'i nodded and told the story. "I was out on patrol with... you two, my parents, Starfire and Nightwing," she explained, "We came across someone trying to rob a bank. He could open portals... and my dad was about to be pushed into one, so I pushed him out of the way and accidentally was sent here, instead."

Mar'i guessed she was sent about 20 years into the past or so based on her family's appearances.

Robin finally cleared his throat, still slightly flustered. "Alright, we'll help. Raven? Is there anything in your spell books that could help us?"

"I'll go get some of my books," She said as she hurried off towards her room.

While waiting for Raven to return, Beast Boy took the opportunity to ask Mar'i some questions.

"So, Mar'i, hows Robin as a dad? Does he make bad dad jokes?"

Mar'i thought for a moment before grinning. "Yeah, the worst. I mean, he's a great dad, and I love him, but his jokes are awful!" She laughed.

"Can't be any worse than Beast Boys jokes," Robin quipped, a small smirk on his face.

"His jokes _are_ pretty bad," Cyborg agreed.

Beast Boy slumped in his seat, a scowl on his face.

Beast Boy thought for a bit before asking another question. "How old are you?"

"I'll be eleven soon!" Mar'i grinned proudly.

"When's your birthd—"

Robin cut the green teen off quickly. "We shouldn't ask her too much," he said, "we don't know how it'll affect the future the more we know."

Mar'i frowned, "So I shouldn't have come here? Was it a bad idea?"

Robin quickly shook his head, "No—that's not what I mean, it's just..." he stuttered, "Batman just once told me about something like this. Well, him and the Justice League went into the future, and he just said it's better to leave some things al—"

"Lame," Beast Boy interrupted.

"Mom always said you were a dork," Mar'i said in a snarky tone. "She wasn't kidding."

Robins face reddened, and Mar'is comment earned a giggle from Starfire, who had stayed quiet throughout their conversation, an audible wheeze from Cyborg, and actual tears from Beast Boy as he laughed.

"I remember Grandpa Bruce telling me about some missions," Mar'i added.

Robin then sat down to talk with her, "Bruce? Telling stories?"

"Yeah!"

"What happened to not asking her some things?" Beast Boy asked. "Hypocrisy!" He rolled his eyes.

After some time, Starfire decided to ask Mar'i how much she knew about their shared culture. They discussed a bit, and Mar'i revealed that she had been to the planet, Starfire was hailed to Tamaran for something regarding the royal family and decided to bring Dick and Mar'i with. A few words were exchanged in Starfires native language between the alien and the hybrid, too.

Raven eventually came back with three thick books in her hands. She plopped down on the table, and started flipping through them.

—

"Where'd you send her?" Nightwing shouted at the man. The police had arrived and took the man away, but not before they granted the two superheroes to integrate him when they arrived at the prison.

He plopped his feet on the interrogation rooms table as he leaned back in his chair. The man, who named himself Portal Master, whose real name was John, picked at his nails. "Dunno where the brat is." He shrugged. "Don't care, either," he said in his thick east coast accent. "Probably in the past."

"You'll bring her back, now!" Nightwing shouted, bracing himself by putting his hands on the table and leaning over.

"Maybe you shouldn't have brought the little spawn in the first place," Portal Master snapped.

Starfire frowned at the situation. She preferred to let her husband handle interrogations, but never had they involved something so personal to her. She feared Nightwing would snap soon enough, so she stepped in and out a hand on his shoulder.

"Perhaps we can make a deal," the alien suggested. "Lower your sentence if you help us?"

Now Portal Master looked a bit more interested. "How much time are we talking?"

"Oh, I don't know, maybe 3 years? Better than 10." Nightwing said.

"That's assuming I don't just break out right now," He said pointedly.

"Do it," Nightwings eyes narrowed. "I dare you."

Portal Master looked nervously around for a second before calming himself, his face grinning.

"Maybe not right now, I'll see what this lousy place has to offer first. Now, where were we? Oh yeah, bringing your half blood back."

The parents cringed at the name. They had to remain calm if they were going to get Mar'i back, no matter how much they despised the names their daughter was called.

"And the police officers," Nightwing added.

Portal Master lazily sliced his hands through the air. "Yeah, yeah."

Nightwing stood behind him and took hold of his arm, jostling him to stand up.

Portal Master ripped his arm away, giving the superhero a dirty look.

He put his hands out in front of him, concentrating, and soon enough a large portal opened in front of him.

"Wherever she is, she isn't anywhere near my portal. I can't drag her back, someone needs to go and find her." A sweat broke over his brow. "Whoever's gonna go, you better hurry. I can't hold it for that long."

Nightwing turned toward Starfire. "I'll go," he said. "I wasn't fast enough and that's why she's stuck there."

Starfire put a hand onto his shoulder. "Please, it is not your fault. Do not blame yourself."

He gave her a small smile before patting her hand. "Give me an hour, then open the portal." And with that, he walked into the portal.

—

"I can't find anything," Raven said, a tinge of annoyance laced in her voice.

"What about when you extracted me from the past? Can't you reserve it, but send her into the future?" Cyborg asked.

"The battle you were in was apart of history in a book. It's much easier when I have material to use." The empathy shook her head.

After another half an hour of everyone searching through Ravens spell books, the crime alert sounded as red lights flashed throughout the tower.

"I'm sorry Mar'i. I promise we'll look some more when we get back," Robin reassured her.

"I understand." Mar'i nodded. Her eyes sparkled for a moment before she dared to ask; "Can I help out?"

All the Titans exchanged looks before Robin smiled. "A another set of hands wouldn't hurt."

—

Nightwing was flung out of the portal. He quietly cursed under his breath as he stood up and took in his surroundings.

He was definitely in the past. Based on the buildings designs, he guessed maybe it was after the Titans had been created.

After a few minutes of making his way around town, he confirmed his suspicions when he saw the giant shaped T on an island.

Nightwing decided to make his way toward the tower, but during his trek a loud explosion caught his attention. He thought, that maybe, if Mar'i had gone to his younger team for help, that they would be where the villain was attaching, and the chance they let Mar'i join them.

—  
Mumbo had recently broken out of Jump City's jail and was currently robbing a jewellery store.

All six of the heroes rushed to stop him, with Robin yelling his iconic battle cry, "Titans...Go?" Rather than a statement, the line turned into a question. They all looked at the sight that was a head of them, a man engaging Mumbo in witty banter as well as a fight.

"Who are you supposed to be?" They heard Mumbo ask. "Certainly too old to be a Titan."

The man in black smirked as he responded, "Let's just say I'm an old friend."

Mumbo gave a confused frown. "Kid, I don't know what you're on about, but I've never met you in my life."

"Don't be so sure of that," The man responded as he took out too escrima sticks and started landing blows on the magician.

"You fight like the Boy Blunder," Mumbo said, annoyed. He jumped off of the ground, and yelled, "Alakazam!" Ropes exploded from the wand as they tangled the vigilante up. The ropes turned him in the direction of the Titans as Mumbo made his getaway.

Upon seeing the blue bird symbol, Mar'i raced over to the man—Nightwing—shouting, "Dad!"

Soon after, a "Titans, Go!" was heard and they all raced toward Nightwing.

"Raven, Cyborg, go after Mumbo and see if you can catch up to him. We'll join shortly," Robin commanded.

The two half humans nodded as Raven teleported off and Cyborg hopped in his car and spend through the streets of the city.

Nightwing pulled out a tool that resembled Robins bird-a-rang and cut the ropes. He looked at his daughter. "It's good to see you, Starshine." He released her and nodded at the rest of them, "Titans," he greeted.

"Okay, this is weird," Beast Boy said.

"We'll talk this out later," Robin turned to his older self. "Mind helping us out with Mumbo some more?"

Nightwing agreed, and soon after, they carted a defeated Mumbo back to the police station.

The seven of them all stood outside the station. Robin and Nightwing reflected the same stance, hands on their hips, the same expression that contained a slight smirk. The only difference was Nightwings flat, non-gelled hair, suit, height, and more bulkier build. Otherwise, it was creepy.

"Dude, I know I already send this. But seriously! This is _freaky!"_ Beast Boy squeaked.

"Cyborg and Starfire have both time traveled before, so why does this bother you?" Raven deadpanned.

"Well, I," Beast Boy put his finger up in defense, "I... well, we've never seen the same person together before," He explained.

"Fair enough," Nightwing said.

"Whatever." Raven huffed.

"Thanks for everything, Titans," The older Robin said, "but we should be getting back soon. I told Kory—er, Star, we'd be back soon. We just have to get back to the spot where the portal opened."

"Need any help with that?" Robin asked as he took his older selfs hand in his own, his signature smirk still on his lips.

Nightwing shook his head. "It might've years since Jump has looked like this, but I can still make my way around."

He made his way to the next Titan in line, which happened to be Starfire. He smiled at her. "Princess," he said as a way of addressing her.

"Is it possible to be jealous of yourself? 'Cause if it is, Robin totally is!" Beast Boy joked.

Nightwing shook the other Titans hands and told Mar'i it was time to leave. She hesitated for a moment, before flying up to each member to hug and thank them.

She first hugged her mother, she engulfed her in a large hug that would rival Starfires own. "I cannot wait to meet you in the future," Starfire told the girl, smiling widely.

Mar'i hugged Robin, then her uncle Cyborg. Raven had tried to deny a hug but once Mar'i saw an opening to do so, she squeezed her aunt and said goodbye.

Lastly, she hugged her uncle Garfield, which earned a wheeze from him considering the strength of her hug, and told him, "One day, you and Dad should have a pun war. See who'd win." Once she let go, Beast Boy snapped his fingers and said that'd be a great idea.

They all uttered their final goodbyes as the father and daughter made their way to the spot the portal had dumped them both off. After a few minutes of waiting in the area, the purple portal popped up, humming to life.

They stepped through it, and came out in the police station, dazed. Starfire kneeled down next to the both of them, and smiled broadly, taking the two into a giant group hug.

They had left the station, making sure Portal Master had gone to his proper jail cell before doing so.

The superhero trio walked down the streets. Mar'i was telling her mother and father about what had happened before Dick had joined. Dick also told Kory his small side in it.

"So, Mar'i," Nightwing said as they started to head home. "What'd you tell the Titans about us?"

"Oh, not much," the half alien said. "Just that your jokes are _terrible."_

Dick looked offended. "My puns are not terrible! If anything they're brilliant. Right, Kory? Kory! Why are you laughing, don't you agree?"

"I'm sorry, my love," Kory tried to suppress her flow of giggles. "But I must agree with Mar'i."

"I've been betrayed!" Dick said dramatically. This caused the girls to break into laughter once again. He smiled warmly, pulling them close. "Come on, let's go home."

 **I hope you guys liked it. Should I do more stories with Mar'i? I really like her character, and I've also thought about adding Jake, possibly as Robin, which I saw in a drawing. I thought it was a great idea, and I'd love to see their brother-sister duo while fighting crime.**  
 **Update on The Demons Head: it might take me some time to get the new chapter out. I haven't even started it yet since I've been working on this story as well as another that I think you guys will like. Not sure when it'll come out yet, still have a fair amount to work on. Don't know if I'll make it a multiple chapter story or one single, long chapter. Which would you guys prefer to read? Also, with the Demons Head, I've been slightly unmotivated with it recently. I felt like I really rushed the ending to chapter three, and I don't want to do that with the fourth one, even if it means waiting a bit longer for it to be finished and posted. Forgot to mention this, so I'll do it now; school's starting up soon so that automatically means posting chapters and stories will slow a bit. That does not mean I will stop writing, It'll just take a while for updates. I hope you guys don't mind. Sorry this update was a bit all over the place, and long, but I just figured it would be best to update you guys with everything so you know what's going on with The Demons Head and if my posting does slow over the course of the next couple of months. Again, I hope you enjoyed this story, give me your thoughts on whether or not I should include Mar'i in more of my writing, too. Oh, also! Make sure to check out the artist and their drawing that inspired this whole idea! Wonderfulworldofmoi on tumblr.**


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